Growth
by CapH0309
Summary: The development of Meredith Grey and Nathan Rigg's relationship post 13x21
1. Chapter 1

A/N: There's not enough Merthan fanfic on here so I wanted to contribute. I hope you enjoy, I hope there aren't too many mistakes, the website uploaded my doc wrong and messed up the format, I tried to fix it as much as possible.

* * *

Meredith was in front of the OR board, staring at today's surgery schedule when she started to recall last night's events. The weight was finally lifted off of her shoulders. It wasn't easy, but Meredith Grey finally got to talk to her sister about Nathan. Maggie may still be angry with her, but to her relief, at least she started to talk to her again.

She was in deep thought when suddenly, she felt an arm touch the small of her back. "Good morning, Dr. Grey." To no surprise, it was him who whispered into her ears. Nathan. She smiled as she turned to him. He felt his heart beat faster, her smile always made him feel that way. "Well doesn't someone look happy."

"Of course I'm happy, I talked to Maggie about us and she's actually talking to me." As soon as she said it, she noticed his infamous smirk. _Great, I just boosted his ego even more._

Nathan just looked at her, trying to read her facial expressions to see what he was thinking was true. "So... We're together, huh? There's an us?" He noticed her small nod. He didn't know he could smile any bigger. He was actually happy, really happy. He hasn't been this into someone since Megan, he thought he would never move on until Meredith. Meredith came to his life unexpectedly. From day one, he found her amazing and beautiful. Seeing and working with her every day definitely didn't help him. His crush on Meredith kept growing and growing and even though she continuously denied him. He hated to admit it, but he felt himself falling in love with her.

Meredith looked at Nathan for a moment, contemplating whether or not to bring him out of his deep thought. "Uh, is everything alright?" Riggs was brought back to reality. "Yeah, of course, it's just that I haven't been this happy in a while." He smiled at her again.

"You're telling me," Meredith laughed a little and looked at him, "I'm happy, too." They kept eye contact for a while before Meredith's pager went off. She groaned. "I'm sorry, I have to go." She started to speed towards the ER.

"I get it, it's a part of our job, I'll see you later?" He wanted to ask her out to lunch or dinner, but he didn't want to seem pushy and get in the way of her busy schedule.

She looked back at him, smiled and waved, "Yup, definitely!" _According to the OR board, he only has one surgery today, hopefully we can have dinner later…_

* * *

It was around six o'clock when Nathan entered the attendings' lounge after a four hour surgery and quickly sat down on one of the couches. It was tough being a surgeon sometimes. He almost lost his patient, but was able to save her after a few shocks to the heart. He was exhausted and just wanted to change.

He felt a pair of lips kiss his cheek. "You must be really tired to not have noticed me in here." He looked behind him and saw Meredith wearing a stunning outfit. She was wearing a tight black dress, red high heels, with hair up, light makeup, and gold jewelry. _She looks amazing. She looks so freaking hot... Oh no, did I forget we had a date or something?_

She noticed at him staring at her and smiled. Amelia helped her pick out her outfit and it definitely did the trick. "I forgot to ask you, but I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me. I saw that you were free after your surgery, so I got ready." She looked down a little bit, Nathan could tell she was a bit nervous and it was cute. He swore all he could do was smile around her.

"Of course I will." He got up and walked towards his locker and noticed something. "I don't really have anything nice to wear though…"

She walked up next to him. "That's okay, we can stop by your place before we go." She figured this would happen and had already planned to make some time to make a quick stop at his apartment.

 _This is nice…_ Nathan realized Meredith must have contemplated about going on their first public date. It was nice to know that she was taking their relationship seriously. He felt himself falling for her even more and it was one of the best feelings.

"Alright, how about I change quickly so we can head out?" She nodded and waited on the couch as she waited for him to get ready.

A couple of minutes later, Nathan came back inside the lounge in his casual clothing and walked up to Meredith and reached out his hand for her to grab. She was hesitant especially because she didn't even let him hold her hand at Sioux Falls. He noticed the hesitation and suddenly realized, "I'm sorry, you don't have to hold my hand, I just wanted to help you up."

She felt stupid, of course he was trying to help her up. That's who he is, always such a gentleman. She laughed and shook her head and accepted his help. It was a nice gesture from him so she kissed him on the cheek. At this point, he couldn't help but blush and it definitely wasn't left unnoticed, but she continued anyways. As he lead the way out of the attendings' lounge, he made sure to reach for the door before she could so he could open the door for her. It wasn't the first time he did this, he did it right before the press conference, too.

Meredith thought _Oh why the hell not._ As soon as they walked side by side, Meredith intertwined her fingers with his. She caught him by surprise, but he didn't complain at all. As they headed out, they grabbed a lot of people's attention, but they didn't care, all they cared about, at that moment, was each other.

They looked at each other and both thought, _I can get used to this._

* * *

I don't know where this is going. I was just procrastinating on homework and decided to write some fic. I'm not the best writer so I don't know whether or not I'll really continue this. I have a plot in mind, but no guarantees. Reviews appreciated?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all who reviewed, it really motivated me to update today! This one was quite rushed because I have a midterm on Thursday and I wanted to update before studying haha.

* * *

It felt like forever, but Meredith and Nathan eventually made it out of the hospital without anyone interrogating them. As soon as they reached the stairs towards their cars, Nathan realized it would be best if they only took one of their cars. "I'm not sure where exactly our date is, but do you want me to drive?"

 _Ugh, I forgot about that…_ Meredith contemplated whether she wanted him to drive to their dinner date. Although she really didn't feel like driving, she really wanted to surprise him. After a while, she ended up figuring out what to do. "Hmm, what about you drive, but I'll give you the directions."

Nathan smiled. _I guess she isn't going to give in...I wonder where our date is._ "Alright, sounds fair."

They let go of each other's hands and walked towards their respective side of the car.

* * *

The car ride to Riggs' place was quiet. Halfway, he noticed that she was just looking out the window and decided to hold her hand.

She looked at him for a brief second, then quickly looked away as she felt herself blushing. _It was about time he held my damn hand._

A couple of minutes later, they were approaching his apartment. "Well here we are." He parked in his assigned slot and turned off the car. "If you want, you can come in or you can just stay in here."

She looked at the apartment complex. "I'd love to come in." She was really curious to see how his apartment looked like.

* * *

Meredith decided to look around the apartment while Nathan was changing. She noticed his apartment was much like a bachelor's pad. It was well furnished, but rarely anything too personal. Along the wall, though, she did notice a few pictures of him and his parents and as she continued, she found a picture of him and who she assumed to be Megan. "Wow, she's pretty." She whispered mainly to herself.

Nathan didn't take long to get ready as he only put on a dark blue dress shirt with a tie, a pair of black pants, and a nice pair of dress shoes so when he left his room, he saw Meredith in the middle of looking at his limited photo collection. He was going to say something, but noticed she reached the photo of Megan. "That picture was before we were deployed to the Middle East for our second tour." He saw her jump a little, but still decided to walk up to where she was. He looked at the photo from over her shoulder. "It was from our better days as a couple…"

She looked back and faced him. "It's a lovely photo." It was silent for a short moment. "I would love to hear more about her, if that's okay with you?"

He looked at her with a semi-serious face. "That's too long of a story to tell." He laughed a little. "Only if you tell me the story about why your name is all over the hospital."

She realized what he meant. She remembered the first time she had a conversation with him, it was in the elevator and she basically rejected him. She laughed. "Deal." She looked up at him and made eye contact. "How about we go to dinner now?" He nodded and reached out for hand once again. This time, without hesitation, she quickly took a hold of his hand and they headed to his car.

* * *

"So are you gonna finally tell me where we're going?" Nathan took a right where Meredith told him to.

She smiled. "You're funny." She laughed a little bit and continued, "Don't be impatient, we'll be there in a few minutes." She enjoyed the fact that she managed to get a reservation at SkyCity, the restaurant in the Space Needle. It really didn't hurt having your name in one of Seattle's biggest hospitals. "Alright, take a right here and we'll be there."

He was so focused on driving he didn't realize where they were, but as soon as he looked around where they were, he figured out why Meredith wanted to keep it a secret. Thinking about it, he was surprised that he didn't figure it out earlier. He remembered telling Meredith that he wanted to experience the Space Needle when they were at the hotel at Sioux Falls. "Holy shit, how did you manage to pull this off?"

Nathan Riggs was never really a person to get shocked so for Meredith, she felt accomplished for being the reason he was so speechless today. "I remembered what you said at the hotel and I wanted our first official date to be special. Plus, it doesn't hurt being on the name of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital."

He was still shocked, but couldn't help but kiss Meredith. As he pecked her on the lips, she kissed him back more passionately. They remained in the car making out until they were interrupted by someone who knocked on the window.

Nathan rolled down his window, slightly disappointed for being interrupted. "I apologize, sir, but would you like me to park your car?" The valet felt guilty for intervening the lovely couple, but there was a line of cars forming behind them and he didn't want to get in trouble.

"No, it's okay." The two grabbed their things and left the car so they could head to the restaurant. "Thank you." Nathan shook his hand and gave him a tip. He then turned to Meredith, "Milady."

She shook her head. "You are ridiculous," yet she couldn't help but smile, "You're lucky I like you."

He laughed, "Good, because I like you, too." He wrapped his arm around her and they went on with their date night.

* * *

They were waiting outside near the valet for his car when Meredith spoke, "Well wasn't that a nice date?"

"It really was." Nathan was amazed with the view of the restaurant. Not only was he mesmerized with the view of Seattle as the sun was setting throughout dinner, but he also was mesmerized with the view of Meredith. He enjoyed watching and listening to her tell him stories about her favorite memories in Seattle, it was all he wanted to do, especially because it was so rare for Meredith to talk to anyone about her life for so long. Every now and then, though, Meredith asked Nathan a few questions about his childhood and his time in the Middle East. By the end of their meal, the two learned a significant amount of things about each other.

"Thank you for such a wonderful date." He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

She felt herself blushing in his hold. "No problem." _This is weird...but a good weird. I hate that I like him so much._ "I'm sorry for talking so much. I didn't expect to tell you so much. What was weird was that I told you all that stuff and I didn't even have a single drink!" She was on call tonight and couldn't have her usual cup of wine for dinner.

He couldn't help but laugh loudly, it was true, Meredith wasn't much of a talker. "Don't be sorry, I enjoyed learning about your life." He looked up and saw the valet pulling up. "You ready to go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go." They entered the car when she made a suggestion. "It's pretty late and my house is closer, so you can come over if you want." She sounded hesitant, but she really did mean it, she was just afraid he would say no.

 _Did I hear that right?_ He quickly turned to her with wide eyes, he saw that she was already looking at him. _I really did…_ "Yeah, yeah of course. I would like that." Grinning, he started the car and began to leave the lot and while doing so, he intertwined his fingers with hers.

* * *

A/N: In the beginning, I was hoping to only write what happened during their date, but this happened. I really didn't know how to approach writing a chapter on just a date, lol, so I apologize for the lack of date details...But yeah, I have the next few chapters planned out, but I won't be able to update again until Thursday night or sometime Friday...I need a long term story line though, so I am open to suggestions. Any recommendations? Anything you want to see? Anything I should fix?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Happy Friday, I'm spending my Friday taking a break from school work a.k.a. update time. Anyways, Meredith and Nathan's scene from last night's episode made me scream, I love them so much!

* * *

The car ride to Meredith's house was very quiet. At this point in their relationship, it was very normal for them to have their occasional moments of silence. Every now and then, though, the two enjoyed making brief eye contact, it always made them smile. Their body language said it all, they were comfortable with each other and they were falling for each other even more every day. At that very moment, they felt content with how good life was treating them for once. For once, Derek and Megan weren't flooding their thoughts. It was a sign that they were progressively moving on.

* * *

Nathan began pulling up to Meredith's driveway. "Alright we're here." He looked in her direction and noticed that she was asleep. Smiling, he leaned towards her to kiss her and wake her up. "Good morning, sunshine." He laughed at her at drowsy state, it was too cute for him not to.

"Oh shut up, I'm tired." She slapped him playfully. "Although, I do appreciate the kiss." She smiled and leaned forward to receive another one.

He looked at the time and noticed it was almost eleven at night. "Oh shit, it's late. Are you sure you want me to come over?" Remembering that Meredith woke up earlier than usual and still being on call, he wasn't sure it was the best idea for him to come in.

 _How cute, he must be nervous._ "Nathan, I wouldn't have invited you if I wasn't sure." She started to gather her things and exit the car. "Come on, let's go."

Before he followed Meredith into her house, he shook off his nerves. _Come on, man, I need to stop being so nervous._

* * *

Meredith placed her keys and bag on the table near the door while Nathan slowly stepped inside and started to look around the house, trying to take in the layout and pictures around the living room. "You can look around if you want." She noticed his curiosity.

"Uh, sure." He thought about it for a little. "Or you can give me a little tour?" He turned around and smiled at her in hopes that she would say yes. "Well, if that's okay with you, of course."

 _That damn smile._ "Alright fine." She began to walk past him and like countless times before, she couldn't help but smile back at him.

* * *

After showing Nathan the way to her house, Meredith brought him to her bedroom. When she made the decision to let him in her house tonight, she was fully aware of the many photo frames with Derek, the huge tumor that Derek drew, and more importantly, the post it with her and Derek's vows. Despite this, she was confident that Nathan would understand. Hell, he knew exactly what she went through and he knew how hard it was to move on. So it was very relieving to see him happily looking at the things that represented her relationship and marriage with Derek. It meant a lot to her.

"I'm going to take a shower right now." She left the room for a moment to grab something and noticed he was getting ready to leave. "Wait, where are you going?"

Nathan looked at her with a very confused look. "I was going to...I just thought...I thought you were asking me to leave now?"

"Ohh no." She lifted the thing in her hand. "I went to one of the other rooms to get these. They're some clothes that Alex left a while ago." She walked up to him and handed the clothes to him. "I was thinking you could spend the night and just lay down with me."

He looked into her eyes and, to say the least, he was very relieved. "Really?" When she nodded, he immediately wrapped his arms around her. "You're amazing."

She laughed and shook her head. "You're something else." She slowly got of his embrace and started to walk towards her bathroom. "Okay, I'm going to take a quick shower."

* * *

When Meredith was finally done getting ready for bed, she went into her room and saw Nathan already sleeping. She walked to her side of the bed and tried to slip in without waking him up. As soon as she settled in, Nathan moved onto his side so he could wrap his arm around her waist. "Hmm, I thought you were asleep."

He held her tighter. "Mmm, you smelled so good it woke me up." He sniffed her hair and smelled her usual lavender shampoo.

 _He's freaking ridiculous._ "You're weird, but okay." She moved closer to him and kissed him on the nose. "Good night, Nathan."

Although his eyes were still closed, he was grinning like an idiot. "Night, Meredith."

* * *

It was three in the morning when Meredith heard something vibrating on her nightstand. Groaning, she rolled over to find the disturbance. It was her pager.

 _I hate being on call._

She slowly rolled out of bed in hopes of not waking Nathan up again. As soon as she successfully got out, she quickly got ready to head to the hospital. When she was about to leave though, she remembered her car was at the hospital.

 _Ughhh. I'll just take Nathan's car, Bailey said it wouldn't take too long. Hopefully he doesn't wake up…_

* * *

Nathan woke up to the sound of Ellis crying on the monitor. He was about to wake up Meredith, but realized she wasn't there. He looked at the time on the nightstand. It read 4:26 AM.

 _Meredith's on call so she was probably paged… I know Amelia's probably with Owen right now, so hopefully Pierce is home?_

Unsure what to do, he walked to Maggie's room to see if she was there. After a few knocks, he remembered that she had to go to the hospital early and decided against waking her up. He decided to make his way to Ellis' room and began mentally preparing for what may happen.

 _Maybe I'll just see what's wrong with the kid myself_

Nathan opened the door to Ellis' room and saw the one year old crying in her crib. Unsure what to do, he picked her up and started talking to her. "Hey, little girl, what's wrong?" He started bouncing her and noticed she started to calm down a little. "Just wanted a little attention, huh? Alright then"

He decided to walk around the house to get her back to sleep. After what seemed like a long ten minutes, he went back to her room to set her down. Ellis, however, must have felt that he was going to leave so she woke up and began to be fussy again. "Alright, alright, let's go to your momma's room and I'll keep you company"

Nathan set Ellis in the middle of the bed and laid a large pillow on Meredith's side so she wouldn't fall. He then laid down on the other side and started rubbing her back so she could go back to sleep.

 _I wonder how the other kids are like… That can wait...maybe they'll hate me…_

After a while of being back in bed, Nathan went to sleep, but this time he had a protective hold on Ellis.

* * *

Meredith was finally done with the emergency and back home by six in the morning. She was exhausted and just wanted to go back to bed, especially since she had the day off now that her shift was over.

As she walked up the stairs, she decided to check on the kids. Zola and Bailey were still fast asleep, but when she got to Ellis' room, she noticed that she wasn't there.

 _Oh my god, oh my god, where is she?_

She ran to her room to ask Nathan if he knew if Maggie somehow took her or something, but as soon as she opened the door she had her answer. It was definitely a sight to see. On her bed, she saw Nathan laying on his back and Ellis laying on his stomach. Meredith watched as her daughter moved up and down with her boyfriend's breathing. It made her heart melt seeing how protective he held her. She couldn't help but join them so she laid down next to the two and put her arm around the two.

Nathan began to stir a little in his sleep and looked around the room. Now aware of the position he was in, he looked at Meredith. "Hey. You were called into the hospital." It was more of a statement than a question.

She nodded. "Yep, just got back." She kissed Ellis then gave Nathan a serious look. "I was checking up on the kids and got so scared when I didn't see Ellis."

 _Oh shit._ "Shit, I'm so sorry. It's just that she started crying in the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake up Maggie, so I got her instead." He put his arm around Meredith. "I'm sorry. I really am."

She laughed a little. "Nathan, don't worry about it, it's okay, she's okay. I came in worried but found you two. I felt so relieved." She had a grin on her face. "It was so nice seeing the two of you sleeping. But anyways, thank you for taking care of her."

He hugged her as much as he could with one arm. "I would do anything for you, plus it doesn't hurt that I love kids." He looked down at Ellis. "She's cuter than what you've shown and told me."

"She really is, actually they all really are. Just wait until you meet Zola and Bailey." She looks forward to him meeting them, but she's afraid of how the two will react to him. As she was thinking about it, she felt him looking at her.

When he got Meredith's attention, he looked up and stared at the ceiling. "I must admit, I'm really nervous about meeting them..."

Meredith wasn't surprised, any person should be nervous to meet their significant other's child(ren). "Don't worry, we'll take it one step at a time, remember?" She moved up a little higher on the bed to give him a kiss. "It'll be okay, alright?"

He kissed her back. "Alright."

* * *

A/N: This chapter took longer to write than I expected ):

Anyways, I hope to update soon, but I have another midterm coming up so maybe within the next week I'll have time to write another chapter. Thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews. Reviews really help motivate me to continue writing as well as helping me fill in holes in my storyline!

P.S. I made Ellis younger in this story.


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